After a somewhat surprising sweep of the Montreal Canadiens, the Boston Bruins now get to face a Carolina Hurricanes hockey team that continued its torrid pace from the regular season and took down the New Jersey Devils in dramatic fashion in seven games. It won’t be as easy this time around for the Big Bad Bruins. First of all, we can’t imagine that Carolina will try to change their game to face Boston the way Montreal did. Secondly, Cam Ward is not playing like Carey Price. Ward has found his groove again and that is going to make things hard for the Bruins. Even harder for Boston is the nearly two week layoff between Game 4 against Montreal and Game 1 against Carolina. The Canes get just two days between their last minute Game 7 win over New Jersey and should be in good rhythm while the Bruins are going to have to reestablish their rhythm. Boston’s best chance at winning this series is figuring out how to cool down Cam Ward. Their scoring depth will be a much bigger test for Ward than New Jersey was. However the Canes, unlike the Habs, actually belong in the playoffs and Boston is going to be getting their first real taste of playoff hockey here in the second round, almost three weeks after everybody else did. Don’t be shocked if Carolina jumps out to a 1-0 lead, and don't be stunned if they turn it into a 2-0 lead. We don’t think Boston will go down easily at all, but we wouldn’t be surprised to see them end up in a hole they can’t climb out of. Canes in six.

Detroit not only swept the Columbus Blue Jackets in the first round, they never even trailed in the series. So calling the Detroit sweep wasn’t much of a feat. However, we did tell you that the San Jose Sharks were prime to be taken out by the Anaheim Thug Ducks and none of you listened to us. Can the Thug Ducks do it again? Sure, why not? They’re coming off the magical three days of rest and the Red Wings have been off since April 23rd. However, Detroit has the offensive ability and veteran moxie to overcome the rust factor and get themselves back into a series. We happen to think this series could be dandy to watch though it could be over very quickly is Chris Osgood continues his downward spiral and Jonas Hiller continues to shine in net for Anaheim. Both of these teams face hard decisions regarding the salary cap in the off season and right now we happen to think that Anaheim is well aware of that while we don’t know about Detroit yet. Adding to the list of things that could decide this series is the special teams play. Detroit posses a potent Power Play unit which means that the Thug Ducks would be well advised to stay out of the penalty box. However, the Wings allowed 3 Power Play goals on 14 chances against the Blue Jackets. Taking advantage of Osgood is the only way Anaheim can advance. We happen to think they will because even if Ken Holland pulls Chris Osgood, he’s only got Ty Conklin. Thug Ducks in six.

Where Detroit and Boston cruised to first round sweeps, Vancouver had to actually work to sweep the St. Louis Blues, well, at least harder than Detroit and Boston did. Chicago was able to dispatch the dissolving Calgary Flames but it turned out to be nowhere near as easy as many thought it would be for them though we knew it would be tougher. Much of the focus is going to be on Roberto Luongo once again as he navigates a second round appearance for only the second time in his career and rightly or wrongly, this could be the series that makes or breaks him. He’ll have to slow down the Blackhawks own set of young guns and outduel the guy at the other end playing for his next contract, Nikolai Khabibulin. Khabibulin has been here before so we give him and the Blackhawks the edge even before you factor in disparity in rest. There just seems to be something missing from the Canucks and Luongo that we can’t put our finger on. Add in that Chicago is certainly enjoying their revival we have to say Blackhawks in five.

From the folks over at IllegalCurve.com we see that long layoffs are a factor as teams advance in the playoffs. This is good news for the Caps as the Penguin Scum will have six days off between games compared to three for the Caps because no matter how hard you practice, nothing simulates the pace of a playoff game like a playoff game. This should help the Caps get out to an early advantage in the Series and with two rather evenly matched teams, an early advantage could turn into a huge one.

So the extra time off comes at the beginning of the series as the Penguin Scum get a full week off between games which should give the Caps a slight advantage. However, the manic end to the series could drain both teams heading into the Eastern Conference Finals. And just in case your wondering, NBC does not have a game the weekend of May 9-10, hence the 7 pm start on May 9th for Game 5.

UPDATE: We were unaware at the time that Versus had exercised exclusive rights to Games 2 and 3.

Tuesday, April 28, 2009

Game 7 Caps vs. Rangers 4-28-2009 Post-Mortem

We can't get ourselves organized enough to do this the usual way so in no particular order:

For the first time in the series, the Rangers got to feel what the Caps felt for much of the series and that is dominating the game but coming out on the short end of the stick. The fact that the game was tied at 1 after two period was a borderline miracle for the Caps considering how poorly we played. We did not deserve to win this game tonight.

However, the Caps for the first time in the series pulled out the gutty, gritty win. Over a seven game series, odds are pretty good you'll play poorly in at least one of them. The good teams find a way to win when they don't deserve to and that's exactly what the Caps did tonight.

Talk about redemption for Sergei (#3) Fedorov. He is really showing his age but as the saying goes "old age and treachery will overcome youth and skill every time." We were about to say "the next goal will win this game" when he took the shot.

Hats off to the Rangers though, they played a hard and gusty game themselves. We know all too well what it is like to play a team that simply has more talent than you in the playoffs. The Rangers did well enough to build a 3-1 lead and after two dismal performances led them into Game 7, they came out and played as well as they possibly could play for the first two periods.

Though speaking of that third period, the Caps outshot New York 13 to 1. This after the Caps were outshot 8-2 in the first period. This game was almost a microcosm of the series itself.

For all of those who think Washington is a bandwagon town really need to pay attention to the crowd not only tonight, but for the entire series. It may be an overstatement to say that the crowd refused to let the Caps lose this Game 7, but not much of one. There were some boos after the second period but the fans stood behind this team tonight and were just as much behind the them in Games 1 and 2 when they lost and Game 5 when they were on the brink of elimination.

Now for the bad news kids. There are three more rounds to go before the Stanley Cup is handed out. Thanks to New Jersey's implosion/choke job at home tonight, here come the Penguin Scum for Round 2. But for one night, we can enjoy getting beyond the first round for the first time in 11 years and winning a Game 7 after being down 3-1 for only the second time history. See ya New York!

Tonight, the season once again comes down to just one game. In Game 7, the Caps are just 1-5 all time, 1-4 at home. However, the Rangers have never won a Game 7 on the road, the last time they played a Game 7 on the road was May 5th, 1974 when they lost 4-3 to the Philadelphia Flyers. This is New York's first Game 7 since the 1994 Stanley Cup Finals when they defeated the Vancouver Canucks 3-2 at Madison Square Garden.

Well folks, here's the situation we did not want. The series down to just one game where Henrik Lundqvist could steal the game and the series from the Caps. Yeah, yeah, yeah we know he's given up nine goals in the last four periods he's played and has been pulled from the last two games. Who here wants to bet that the same thing happens to him again tonight? We didn't think so. While Lundqvist has never played in a Game 7, that is all the more reason to believe that he will come prepared tonight. And if there is one thing about this series since Simeon "the Saviour" Varlamov entered that has surprised us, it is that we haven't seen an overtime game yet. Once again, the first goal tonight is going to be huge. However, the Caps have blown the 1-0 lead twice in this series in just over one minute in each occurrence. Any confidence the Rangers gain will make things harder on the Caps as the Caps have yet to post a one goal win in the playoffs but already have 3 one goal losses. The more the Caps score, the easier things should be for them however they shouldn't expect the Rangers to fold the way they did in Games 5 and 6 considering that they are also facing elimination tonight. This looks to be a replay of Game 4 where the Caps were attempting to avoid going down 3-1. Expect a low scoring tight checking game that could very well be decided by a bounce, referee, and/or a goal post or two. Finally, the reason why only 20 teams out of 233 have ever come all the way back from a 3-1 deficit to win is because a team good enough to jump out to that kind of lead will rarely lose 3 playoff games in a row. Sorry folks, we happen to think this is just another heartbreak waiting to happen.

We understand the automatic part of this suspension but have a huge problem with the discretionary part because of the standards already set by the NHL in the series. First the NHL dropped the ball by ignoring Sean Avery's unwarranted punch to Simeon "the Saviour" Varlamov's face near the end of Game 3. If a punch to the face of a goaltender pitching a shutout with just under 2:48 left isn't "sending a message" then could somebody please tell us what is? Especially considering the message the NHL sent to a message to Daniel Carcillo of the Philadephia Flyers and Milan Lucic of the Boston Bruins for "sending a message" in their series with the Pittsburgh Penguin Scum and Montreal Canadians respectively.

And if the NHL is trying to cut down on head shots, what about Sean Avery's actions in Game 4 where he made unnecessary contact (drawing blood in the process) with Milan "Jerky" Jurcina and followed it up with a two-handed high stick to the head of Brian Pothier that was anything but accidental. Then there was Colton Orr attempting to clothesline Alexander "Slappy" Semin with 5:46 left in another 4-0 shutout, this time in Game 5. No suspensions were handed down by the NHL for any of those actions either.

We guess it was because the Saviour, Jerky, Pothier, and Slappy weren't hurt enough to miss time. We remember Dale Hunter's hit on Pierre Turgeon in the 1993 Playoffs against the Islanders. Part of Gary Bettman's rationale for a then record 21 game suspension was that Turgeon would be lost for the rest of the playoffs as the Rangers are currently claiming with Betts. However, after about 5 games in the second round against the Penguin Scum in 1993, Turgeon came back to the lineup. So you can understand why we think that Betts will only miss the rest of the playoffs if the Rangers do not win Game 7 tomorrow night.

Finally what has us really angry about this is the tone of the press release from the NHL. One gets the feeling that the NHL wanted a harsher punishment for Mr. Brashear but if you read the press release announcing the suspension for John Tortorella, you feel as though the NHL regrets having to discipline Tortorella and did so only because they had to under the league's own directives. Tortorella attacked fans at the game. Brashear attacked a player on the ice and oh by the way, the referees the NHL assigned didn't think it was worthy of a penalty at the time in a game where the calls were lopsided against the Caps.

However, what is done is done. While we once again wish that the Caps brain trust would scream bloody murder over yet another disparity going against the Caps, we know that isn't going to happen. After all, we have yet to see any of the respectable hockey press attack the Rangers for refusing to accept John Tortorella's suspension. We have to think that their excessive whining, (which only Sally Jenkins called them out on) played a large role in the length of Mr. Brashear's suspension. What we want to see if how other incidents such as this one will be handled by the NHL later in the playoffs. Something tells us, whatever the decision is, it too will be just as arbitrary & capricious as this one was.

Sunday, April 26, 2009

Sunday Smorgasbord 4-26

We start off this week with news we first saw on the (Com)Post about Jeremy Tyler skipping his senior season of high to play basketball professionally. Because the NBA won't touch him, he has to go to Europe and is certain to win all kinds of applause and kudos from various folks who say they have the kids best interests at heart. In other words, they want this kid to rake in the $$$$$ they feel the NCAA are unfairly keeping from these kids. But when you consider that a school like the University of Maryland allows athletes who has exhausted their eligibility or leave school early to return to school to complete their undergraduate degree on scholarship, just how much are these kids being exploited? A four year run at UMD currently runs about $145,000, so who really has whose best interests of these kids at heart? Furthermore we can't imagine that UMD is the only school doing something like this which is probably why these schools don't like players skipping out early because they're still on the hook when the NBA dreams have been dashed and they need that Bachelor's Degree. Only the school is no longer getting the benefit of the athlete's talent and "making $$$$$ off of him." Tyler isn't the first to skip out on the NCAA for Europe in the hopes of returning to the big NBA payday but what are the odds that he is going to manage that European and/or NBA paycheck well enough that when his playing days are over, he can get a college education on his own? These people applauding this kid should admit that all they really care about is $$$$$ and not the long term future of these kids they feel are being exploited.

We all remember the hit Sean Avery laid on Milan "Jerky" Jurcina in Game 4 that drew blood as Jerky made the touch up on an icing call. Were you aware of this in the NHL Suggestion Book under 42.1 Boarding? "Any unnecessary contact with a player playing the puck on an obvious “icing” or “off-side” play which results in that player being knocked into the boards is “boarding” and must be penalized as such. In other instances where there is no contact with the boards, it should be treated as “charging.”" We guess that once the playoffs start, the points of emphasis are thrown out the window. And to think, John Tortorella and Avery defenders have had the audacity to complain about the officiating in this series...

And speaking of the Rangers whining about the officiating and application of the NHL Suggestions, to borrow Bruce Garrioch's term, they took whining to a whole new level today" over the incident Friday night during Game 5 by sending and publishing their letter to the NHL. First of all, let's sit back, enjoy, and laugh very hard at the irony of the New York Rangers Organization complaining about the behavior and language of fans at a hockey game. We all know what a role models for the rest of the league the Madison Square Garden crew is. Furthermore what part of "the National Hockey League cannot -- and will not -- tolerate any physical contact with fans" do the Rangers not understand? One of the first things we were taught we went started interacting with other people was that "two wrongs don't make a right." We here at Bleatings From a Caps Nut do not condone spitting, throwing objects into and onto the bench, and excessive profanity directed at anybody. However, that does not excuse the highly paid coach of a professional hockey team squirting water and then throwing a water bottle at fans that have been heckling him all game. Fans who act out of line should be promptly removed from the facility (no matter which team they are rooting for) and players and coaches who cannot handle the heckling that comes with playing a game on the road shouldn't be playing games on the road.

And adding to the Rangers temper tantrums, are their complaints aboutMr. Donald Brashear and Shaone Morrrissonnn. Mr. Brashear as you should already know, knocked out Blair Betts in the first period today after Betts had dumped the puck deep into the Caps defensive zone. We think the hit came a little on the late side but other than a big man, Mr. Brashear, hitting a smaller man, Betts, we don't see what was so dirty and cheap about it. Considering what Sean Avery has gotten away with in this series, the NHL is going to have a hard time slapping Mr. Brashear with any "supplemental discipline" over this and his "run-in" with Colton Orr during the warmups. (Though that has never stopped the NHL) As for the complaint that Morrrissonnn bit Brandon Dubinsky we're left saying "Huh?" How could Morrrissonnn do something like that unless Dubinsky's arm was in close proximity to Morrrissonnn's mouth in the first place? We don't remember seeing Morrrissonnn grabbing Dubinsky's arm and pulling it towards his mouth. So therefore, what was Dubinsky's arm doing there? Are Morrrissonnn's teeth really sharp enough that he can bite through a jersey, long sleeved undershirt, and potentially equipment or equipment straps? Finally, how could something like that have been missed by all the TV cameras and the officials on the ice? (We can understand how the referees could possibly miss it, but considering the way today's game was called, we highly doubt it) Good grief, give it up guys.

Adding to New York's misery at the hands of D.C. Professional sports teams was the Nats getting their first win on the road this season in New York against the Mets. We didn't watch the entire game but that was another game where the officials didn't give the Nationals any breaks. Luckily they were still able to pull out a win. Now at 4-13 there is some belief that the Manny Acta Watch is on. We however think that would be a shame because the pitching is finally starting to come around and there has been no sign yet of the players quitting like they did last year. As Robert Fachet used to say about the early days of the Caps, "you can't make chicken salad out of chicken feathers."

Completing the D.C. over New York Trifecta today was D.C. United coming back from a 2-1 second half deficit to win 3-2 in the Meadowlands. We didn't get a chance to watch this game either because of the hockey game (and the fact that we don't understand Spanish as the game was on Telefutura) but know that beating the New York Red Bulls is always a high priority for D.C. United. And to do it with a late comeback win, that only makes it all the more special.

Finally, this week, the Caps are hosting first round Game 7 again this year on Tuesday night at 7 pm on Versus. Should the Caps win, they would play either the New Jersey Devils or Pittsburgh Penguin Scum in the Second Round. The Caps would have home ice advantage over both teams and would start the Series at the Phone Booth on either Thursday or Friday night. The Nats go and visit Stan Kasten's newest and bestest friends when they visit the Philadelphia Phillies tomorrow night to start a three game series. They then come back home as Stan expresses his love for the good people from St. Louis for a four game weekend series starting on Thursday night. D.C. United will host FC Dallas at RFK on Saturday night at 7:30 pm.

As always please send all comments, criticisms, corrections, suggestions, questions, and unsubstantiated allegations to "capsnut" over at gmail dot com.

Game 6 Caps @ Rangers 4-26-2009 Post-Mortem

We have a Tom Poti sighting Ladies and Gentlemen! A nice 3 on 1 goal after coming out of the penalty box and three assists in the game for a four point day in the Garden where he's a returning hero. But he also turned in a fine defensive performance as well.

He didn't get a goal but Shaone Morrrissonnn was stout defensively as well, posting a +3 on the day.

After avoiding his shot for seemingly all series, Mike "BEAM ME UP" Green finally took his shot and scored his first goal of the playoffs and a goal on the Caps first Power Play of the game. A whipping boy for certain bald New York commentators over his defensive play, he also posted a +2 today.

He doesn't like the matinee games but A.O. scored the other Power Play goal (the unit went 2 for 2) with a deflection in the slot past Henrik Lundqvist. A.O. also played well defensively, backchecking as well as we've ever seen him.

THE BAD:

With the game well in hand in the second period, the Caps got too cute thinking the game was too easy. The Caps took only 2 shots on goal in the third period.

The Penalty Killers yielded a goal on the first kill of the game which tied up the game just 1:06 after the Caps had taken the lead. If there ever was a time to tighten things up, that was it. The Caps were lucky to get away with something like that.

We also got very concerned about the Rangers starting to run into the crease of Simeon "the Saviour" Varlamov in an obvious attempt to bump and rattle "the Saviour" because not much else was working for them. We don't want to see a replay of last year's first round series, especially with Game 7 coming up.

THE UGLY:

Yeah, we won, but it was in spite of referees Bill McCreary and Brad Meier who called the Caps for 22 minutes on 11 penalties. The Rangers had 20 minutes on just six penalties but the Power Plays were 6 for the Rangers and 2 for the Caps. We noticed cross checks, hooks, trips, and even a slew foot that should have been called on the Rangers but weren't in addition to a couple of interference penalties that were missed. But the penalties on John "Coach's Pet" Erskine Bowles and Nicklas Backstrom to create New York's first 5 on 3 were all around bad calls as the referees seemed intent on letting the Rangers have their way with the Caps.

Sergei (#3) Fedorov had a horrible game again today. He had a bad turnover in the second period that lead to a flurry around the Caps net while the game was still close.

Well here we are a little more than one year later and we're looking at Game 7 back in D.C. after being down 3-1 in the series. This one today was easy folks, almost too easy and we have to say that we don't like how the Caps finished out today's game. The Caps were up 5-1 and allowed the Rangers to get back into the game, yeah one of the goals came with just 6 seconds left but the game is sixty minutes long and how many times this season have we seen the lack of a full sixty minute effort cost the Caps? We cannont allow bad habits to creep into our game at this point because nobody is going to say good job if we don't win on Tuesday night. Can we expect a third poor performance in a row by Henrik Lundqvist? The Rangers didn't exactly roll over and play dead after the second period tonight and we cannot imagine John Tortorella allowing them to do that should they fall behind on Tuesday night. Besides, if we learned anything last year, it is that a victory in a Game 7 is anything but assured and the "x factor" can play a large role in the deciding game.

Today the Caps go into Game 6 on the road looking for a Game 7 when they face the Rangers in Madison Square Garden. The Caps are 8-9 in Game 6 overall with a 5-6 record on the road but are just 3-6 when attempting to avoid elimination down 3-2.

In case you haven't already heard or figured it out, John Tortorella has been suspended for today's Game 6 because of his water squirting and bottle tossing incident in Game 5. We're wondering why it is only a one game suspension considering that Tortorella escalated the situation around his bench. Though this has to be a record for the fastest losing of a team by its head coach. But never mind that, will Sean Avery return to the lineup or not? Will that matter with Jim Schoenfeld behind the bench because will the Rangers come out with a "Win one for Tortorella" attitude? Or will Schoenfeld keep Avery on a shorter leash than Tortorella? Now folks, for many of the same reasons we did it on Friday, here's a reprint of the expectations for Game 4 with a few minor tweaks...

Well folks, this one is going to be a donnybrook today and that is what you usually get when you have two teams playing a MUST WIN GAME. For the Caps, they're still on the break of elimination so nothing has changed for them except for the venue and jersey colors. In essence, the Rangers had a game to play with and that is exactly what they did in Game 5 on Friday night. If the Caps can win tonight, they will reclaim home ice advantage and roll into the Phone Booth on Tuesday night with a chance to complete the comeback. The pressure will increase on the Rangers because their fast start would have been completely erased and the Series will become a best of 1. However, should the Caps lose today all the good feelings generated by Friday night's win will be lost and the Rangers turmoil will be forgotten. The first goal of today's game will be huge even though scoring first hasn't been a true indicator of success, the team to score first is 4-1 so far. But the Caps need to get to Lundqvist first as usual and best way for the Caps to do that is to score on their first Power Play of the game. The Rangers on the other hand have got to get one past Simeon "the Saviour" Varlamov early, even if it goes in off a Cap again. The longer he holds the Rangers off the scoreboard, the more it benefits the Caps because the Rangers are much more limited offensively than the Caps are. The Caps have outscored the Rangers 12-7 in the five games so far and "the Saviour" has only given up 3 goals in the four games he has played. We don't expect "the Saviour" to pitch another shutout today, but the Rangers will gain loads of confidence from just one goal. Furthermore, we expect the Rangers to play a better game tonight than they did on Friday and with Lundqvist looking to bounce back after an awful game on Friday night, this game could take an overtime period or three to sort out before it is all over.

The Rangers are already 2 for 2 in avoiding suspensions though to be fair, both of those are Sean Avery. So we have no reason to believe that John Tortorella will be suspended for tomorrow's Game 6 because of the water bottle toss. Though after last night's game, Tortorella has little standing left to complain about Avery losing his composure (not that he had much of a standing on that in the first place...)

Friday, April 24, 2009

Game 5 Caps vs. Rangers 4-24-2009 Post-Mortem

So maybe they don't Sean Avery to take stupid aggression penalties... Onto the Battle Damage Assessment...

THE GOOD:

You wanted secondary scoring, you got secondary scoring from none other than Matt "Omar" Bradley twice, the first two of his playoff career. It doesn't get any more secondary than that. But what was the most interesting to us was that the icebreaker came shorthanded. During the regular season, the Rangers tied the Calgary Flames for the most shorthanded goals allowed with 13. It was a huge problem for them when Tom Renny was coach, but not so much since John Tortorella took over. It cost them tonight.

And for good measure, A.O. and Alexander "Slappy" Semin each notched goals. Henrik Lundqvist not only gave up a soft goal to Omar for the second one of the game, but was astounding to us was that the four goals Lundqvist gave up came on just 14 shots. Oh and some pretty sick moves by A.O. on his goal. Who else could possibly be the NHL MVP?

The Penalty Killers came up big again, not only did Omar Get (a) Shorty, but they once again killed every Power Play the Rangers had tonight going 4 for 4.

So Sean Avery wasn't around to take his cadre of penalties but that doesn't mean the Rangers still didn't try to bait the Caps into penalties. The Caps kept their cool but big time kudos to referees Don Van Massenhoven and Mike Hasenfratz who did an excellent job of keeping this game under control.

Kudos too to Bruce Boudreau who kept the stars on the bench late in the game when the matter was well decided, especially after Colton Orr tried to take Slappy's head off. There was no need to run up the score nor taking the chance of very important players getting hurt out there with the way the Rangers were playing.

THE BAD:

Sorry folks, but we don't consider a 20 save effort for a shutout worthy of praise. As a matter of fact Simeon "the Saviour" Varlamov caused the hooking penalty Shaone Morrrissonnn took in the third period. The Rangers have figured out that he overplays and is susceptible to backdoor and passes back across the crease.

The Power Play, how is it they went 0 for 7 on a night when Lundqvist was not on top of his game?

THE UGLY:

Our vast network of spies and informants tell us that somebody in Section 100 apparently spit on the Rangers bench tonight which is why you saw Tortorella going nuts on the crowd behind him. But even worse was the water bottle that went flying from the Rangers bench into the crowd. That our friends is a violation of Suggestion 23.7 which states "Any player, goalkeeper or non-playing Club personnel who physically interferes with the spectators, becomes involved in an altercation with a spectator, or throws any object at a spectator, shall automatically incur a game misconduct penalty and the Referee shall report all such infractions to the Commissioner who shall have full power to impose such further penalty as he shall deem appropriate." An automatic $200 fine is also assessed but you may have noticed, no Ranger was ejected for the incident. We have our doubts that the League Office will do anything either.

While the Caps weren't force feeding the puck to Omar for two periods to complete the Hat Trick, they were force feeding the puck to Mike "BEAM ME UP" Green to get him out of his slump. That's not how you do it folks.

Well folks, what can we say, the bounces and breaks once again went our way tonight. Michal Rozival falls down and Omar was gone on his shorthanded break. Lundqvist gave up as soft of a goal as you're ever going to see by a goalie of his caliber. A.O. took only 3 shots on goal tonight with 4 missing and only 1 getting blocked. As a matter of fact, the Rangers only blocked 11 tonight. There's certainly something to be said about quality of shots but we all know Lundqvist would like to have that second goal he gave up to Omar back. So the misery gets extended and we play on Sunday in the Garden. Expect another donnybrook.

Tonight it all comes to an end if history is any indication. Last year the Rangers jumped out to a 2-0 lead on New Jersey and ended the series in five games, not to mention them only losing a series after getting a 2-0 lead just once, in 1968. The Caps are just 7-17 in Game 5 in their history and have been able to avoid elimination only twice, one coming last year, in seven opportunities in Game 5. The Caps are just 4-10 in Game 5 on home ice.

Well folks, if this sounds awfully familiar, it is because we've just copied and pasted the same section from our Game 3 Preview with a few tweaks here and there. Because folks, nothing has really changed and were just tired of typing the same stuff over and over...

Stop us if you've heard us say this before, but the Caps have to get to Henrik Lundqvist early and we're not talking about registering double digit shots on goal. We're talking about goals, the more the better, but even just one will do. Even if the Caps the trail 5-1 after the first period, it will be an improvement, because the longer the Caps go without scoring on Lundqvist, the more their frustration will grow. The theme of today is two fold, and first is above all is to relax. Now that the Caps are down 3-1, the pressure is gone. No longer longer are the Caps really expected to win this series. The second theme is to believe that they can dig out of this hole. We have to admit, we don't like our chances and if the Caps are going to come back in the series, well then tonight is a MUST WIN GAME and there are no two ways about it. Certainly the Caps did beat the Rangers three times in a row this season. We think we'll have an early idea of this is game heading after the first period tonight because if the Caps are held off the scoreboard again, it is going to be a long night and the series will be over.

Caps Nut Official Prediction:

Caps 2Rangers 3Winner by Avery (We don't believe for a second that they're going to bench him now)

Wednesday, April 22, 2009

Game 4 Caps @ Rangers 4-22-2009 Post-Mortem

Ok if you're getting off the bandwagon, line forms to the left... Onto the Battle Damage Assessment...

THE GOOD:

A.O. once again showing why he's the true MVP of the NHL. 11 shots on goal and if you can believe it, right now they're showing none of his shots were blocked. His third period goal got things going. It was a darn shame he didn't get any help.

The Caps Penalty Killers once again hold the Rangers Power Play off the scoreboard for the third consecutive game.

THE BAD:

While the Caps took only three penalties, two of them came when the Caps were on the Power Play.

Once again, the Power Play took too long to get themselves established. We honestly think if they could do something before their third Power Play chance of the game, we really think they could be in charge of the series.

THE UGLY:

If fair is fair Bruce Boudreau will return to Jose "Alvin, Simon," Theodore in goal after Simeon Varlamov's misplay of the puck cost the Caps this game tonight. The first goal you can't blame him on but that second goal was entirely Varlamov's fault and, again to be perfectly honest, he had misadventures playing with puck on Wednesday night too. They cost him and the team tonight.

Let us make one thing perfectly clear, we aren't blaming tonight's loss on referees Paul Devorksi and Ian Walsh but folks, they were wretched tonight and we knew we were doomed when we saw Devorski's name as one of the referees for tonight's game. Even if you classify the 3rd period tripping call on Alexander "Slappy" Semin as a pure make-up call, it is still an utter joke as the Ranger just skated over Slappy's stick. There was no excuse to make that call. Furthermore, there could have very easily been two double minor penalties called on Sean Avery in the third period but the linesman had to convince the referees to call the first penalty and who knows what they were thinking, if they were thinking at all, on the second call. Certain Ranger beat writers cannot complain about Avery being targeted by the officials because he's gotten away with a lot more in this series than he's been improperly blamed for.

Well folks, here we are one year later and we're in the exact same position again, down 3-1 in the first round. What can we say folks? We peeked into Darwin's Waiting Room and saw that they were already calling for General Manager George McPhee's head. Now there are three threads on the first page alone calling for McPhee to be fired. While we don't think the Caps played well in the first period, tonight was the first time the Rangers outshot the Caps in the first period, they once again showed which team had the better talent. The Caps hit two goalposts tonight and one of them came in that awful first period on a Sergei (#3)Fedorov. As was the case in Games 1 & 2, the breaks and bounces just did not go our way tonight. Look no further than the game winning goal scored by a player with just one good hand and two players having blood drawn by a known offender but only two minutes penalties being assessed to that player. While a seven game series more often than not allows the more talented team to advance, in the NHL breaks and bounces play just as much of a role. 11 years ago we got all the breaks, all the bounces, and all the calls in our favor as we went to the Stanley Cup Finals. After taking Monday night off, Lady Luck is once again defecating all over us. Finally, we do tip our cap to Henrik Lundqvist, we mentioned this morning that he's improved as the series as gone on. As much as we aren't getting the breaks we need, he is doing what he needs to do in order for the Rangers to win this series. We can only imagine the effort we'll need to repeat what we did last year and get this series into a seventh game.

Tonight the Caps try to climb out of the hole they dug for themselves last week when they face the Rangers in Game 4 and return to even footing by reclaiming their home ice advantage. The Caps are 14-13 All-Time in Game 4, 7-6 on the road, but 3-7 when trailing in the series 2-1.

Well folks, this one is going to be a donnybrook tonight and that is what you usually get when you have two teams playing a MUST WIN GAME. For the Caps, there's really no difference between being down in the series 3-1 or 3-0. So in essence, the Rangers had a game to play with and that is exactly what they did in Game 3 on Monday night. However, there is a world of difference between being down 3-1 and being tied at 2 a piece. If the Caps can win tonight, they will reclaim home ice advantage and roll into the Phone Booth on Friday night with all the momentum on their side. The pressure will increase on the Rangers because their fast start would have been completely erased and the Series will become a best of 3. However, should the Caps lose tonight, the Caps are one Henrik Lundqvist stolen game away from being eliminated in the first round for the second year in a row. All the good feelings generated by Monday night's win will be lost. The first goal of tonight's game will be huge even though scoring first hasn't been a true indicator of success, the team to score first is 2-1 so far. But the Caps need to get to Lundqvist first as usual and it would be even better if A.O. could do it first because that would really wear on the Rangers knowing that he has found his scoring touch again. The best way for the Caps and A.O. to do that is to score before their third Power Play of the game comes around. The Rangers on the other hand have got to get one past Simeon Varlamov early. The longer he holds the Rangers off the scoreboard, the more it benefits the Caps because the Rangers are much more limited offensively than the Caps are. The Caps have outscored the Rangers 7-5 in the three games so far and Varlamov has only given up 1 goal in the two games he has played. We don't expect Varlamov to pitch another shutout tonight, but the Rangers will gain loads of confidence from just one goal. Furthermore, we expect the Rangers to play a better game tonight than they did on Monday and with Lundqvist playing better as the series has progressed, this game could take an overtime period or three to sort out before it is all over.

Monday, April 20, 2009

Game 3 Caps @ Rangers 4-20-2009 Post-Mortem

We'll see your 1-0 shutout and raise you a 4-0 shutout... Onto the Battle Damage Assessment...

THE GOOD:

We have an Alexander "Slappy" Semin sighting! Slappy had two goals and an assist tonight to lead the Caps scoring charge. We said on Saturday that your best players have to play their best in the playoffs and Slappy did exactly that tonight after having a pretty invisible first two games. The sad part is, Slappy should have had four goals in the first period by himself.

Bruce Boudreau gambled on Saturday by starting Simeon Varlamov over Jose "Alvin, Simon," Theodore and didn't get the payoff he was looking for. Boudreau played the same card again tonight and it paid off big time. As well as Henrik Lundqvist was playing at the other end, Varlamov more than matched him save for save. We'll admit, he got some great luck in the first period when Ryan Callahan hit the goal post on a wide open net, but we've been saying that the Caps were due for some breaks and that was the first big break to go the Caps way in this series.

As good as Slappy and Varlamov were, A.O. was even better. He was the best skater for the Caps tonight and while he didn't score any goals, the fact that the Rangers were so drawn to him opened things up for the rest of the team and A.O. was finding them. A.O. had just 5 shots on goal. 4 were blocked and 5 others missed the net for what is a quiet evening for A.O. He did however have two assists and played as well on the defensive end as we've seen him play. He deserved to be one of the stars of the game tonight.

The Penalty Killers went 5 for 5 tonight hold the Rangers to just 8 shots on goal during those man advantages. It also helped that the Rangers couldn't stop taking penalties on their Power Plays but the Caps Penalty Killers were playing pretty well tonight.

Much has been made over the Rangers blocking 50 shots in the first two games. Tonight they only blocked 13, the same number the Caps blocked tonight. Adjustment made.

THE BAD:

The Power Play was officially 2 for 6 tonight. But once again needed some time to get going. You guessed it, it was on the third man advantage of the night again. Imagine if the Rangers were somehow able to take only two penalties in a game???

After holding the Rangers to 21 and 24 shots on goal in the first two games, the Caps yield 33 shots on goal tonight, 21 in the first two periods alone. While we won, the game was a little too wide open for our taste. Not the way you want to protect your 20 year old rookie goaltender.

THE UGLY:

If looks could kill, John Tortorella would have murdered Sean Avery in the third period as he got ejected for his continuing nonsense trying to get in the head of Varlamov. First of all, considering the one game suspension for Daniel Carcillo of the Philadephia Flyers and Milan Lucic of the Boston Bruins for "sending a message" can we expect the same for Avery? Secondly, why was Avery trying to talk smack to a guy who doesn't understand English? Unlike Martin Brodeur, Varlamov had no idea what that little punk was saying to him which is likely why he didn't react to him. Avery showed his ugly side tonight as he cost the Rangers more than he helped them.

As a matter of fact, Joe Beninati and Craig Laughlin were right, the third period was all kinds of ugly. We're talking Rod Brind'Amour ugly. A win is a win is a win but we were very worried that the Rangers would either find a way to sneak back into this game or get confidence heading into Game 4. We still have not mastered shutting teams down in the third period when we have a big lead.

This is the largest margin of victory since the Caps beat the Ottawa Senators 6-1 in Game 2 of the 1998 Eastern Conference Semifinals so you know exactly where you can stick that broom Maven. Furthermore, with just one goal in 120 minutes of hockey against Simeon Varlamov, how many words are going to be written about how he's in the Rangers' heads? Who can John Tortorella send onto the Rangers bench when the Caps have their morning skate on Wednesday? If we were Boudreau, we'd have the entire Caps team watching the Rangers morning skate on Wednesday...

Ok, now that we've gotten all of that out of our system. The time for celebrating and gloating is over. The Caps are still trailing in the Series 2-1 and Game 4 is also a MUST WIN GAME because as far as we're concerned, being down 3-1 is just as bad as being down 3-0. We've avoided being down 3-0 and need to avoid being 3-1 just as much. We've been telling you that things would start to roll once we started getting our share of the breaks and the bounces and boy did we get them tonight. We're going to need them again on Wednesday night because without a doubt, Henrik Lundqvist has played better and better with each passing game. If the Rangers were overconfident tonight, they won't be on Wednesday and now the Caps have to guard against reverting back to their form of the first two games with overconfidence.

Tonight the Caps hit the road to get away from their own house of Playoff Horrors when they travel up to New York to play the Rangers in Game 3. The numbers are not on the Caps side when down 2-0 in a series. The Caps have never won Game 3 when down 2-0 (as a matter of fact, they've been swept swept in all but one instance) and the Rangers have not blown a 2-0 series lead on home ice since 1968.

Stop us if you've heard us say this before, but the Caps have to get to Henrik Lundqvist early and we're not talking about registering double digit shots on goal. We're talking about goals, the more the better, but even just one will do. Even if the Caps the trail 5-1 after the first period, it will be an improvement because so far, the Caps haven't gotten one past Lundqvist in the first period and after Saturday's game, the longer the Caps go without scoring on Lundqvist, the more frustrated they will become. The theme of today is two fold, and first is above all is to relax. Now that the Caps are down 2-0 and playing on the road, the pressure is gone. No longer do the Caps have to put on a show for their home fans, no longer are the Caps really expected to win this series; now they can't get entirely away from the people saying "what's going on?" because of the media horde following them around but they no longer have the distractions of home. Those now belong to the Rangers who are playing in front of fans who are now expecting a sweep and an impressive one to boot. The second theme is to believe that they can dig out of this hole. We have to admit, we don't like our chances and if the Caps are going to come back in the series, well then tonight is a MUST WIN GAME and there are no two ways about it. Certainly the Caps did beat the Rangers three times in four games this season but at this point, we're talking about beating them four times in a period of seven days should they lose this game tonight. We think we'll have an early idea of this is game heading after the first period tonight because if the Caps are held off the scoreboard again, it is going to be a long night and a quick series.